3. 3
Professional communication
encompasses written, oral, visual and digital
communication within a workplace context. This
discipline blends together pedagogical principles
ofrhetoric , technology , software , and learning theory to
improve and deliver communication in a variety of
settings ranging from technical writing to usability and
digital media design. It is a new discipline that focuses on
the study from information and the ways it is created ,
managed , distributed , and consumed. Since
communication in modern society is a rapidly changing
area , the progress of technologies seems to often
outpace the number of available expert practitioners.
This creates a demand for skilled communicators which
continues to exceed the supply of trained professionals.
4. 4
A professional learning community
is an extended learning opportunity to foster
collaborative learning. It is a group of educators that
meets regularly, shares expertise, and works
collaboratively to improve teaching skills and the
academic performance of students. The term is also
applied to schools or teaching faculties that use small-
group collaboration as a form of professional
development.
Professional learning communities tend to
serve to two broad purposes:
▪ Improving the skills and knowledge of educators
through collaborative study, expertise exchange, and
professional dialogue.
▪ Improving the educational aspirations, achievement,
and attainment of students through stronger leadership
and teaching.
5. 5
The field of professional
communication is closely related to that of technical
communication, through professional communication
encompasses a wider variety of skills. Professional
communicators use strategies, learning theory, and
technologies to more effectively communicate in the
business world.
Successful communication skills are
critical to a business because all businesses, through to
varying degrees, involve the following: Writing, reading,
editing, speaking, listening, software applications,
computer graphics, and internet research. Job candidates
with professional communication backgrounds are more
likely to bring to the organization sophisticated
perspectives on society, culture, science and technology.
Studying professional communication
The study of professional communication includes:
6. 6
The study of rhetoric which serves as a rhetorical
basis.
The study of technical writing which serves as a form
of professional communication.
The study of in- personal and virtual training, which
serves as a form of communication delivery.
The study of visual communication which also uses
rhetoric as a theoretical basis for various aspects of
creating visuals.
The study of various research methods.
Types of professional documents;
Short reports
Proposals
Case studies
Lab reports
Memos
Definition:
The various forms of speaking, listening,
writing, and responding carried out both in and
beyond the workplace, whether in person or
electronically.
7. 7
As Cheng and Kong point out in the
preface to professional communication:
Collaboration Between academics and Practitioners
(2009), “Professional communication is an emerging
area of investigation in many disciplines such as
applied linguistics, communication studies,
education and psychology……….
….. he understands of
professional communication can be enhanced by the
studies conducted by the professionals themselves,
because they are the insiders in their professionals.”
It involves much more than a stuff
meeting or group of teachers getting together to
discuss a book they’ve read.
8. 8
Primarily excluded from the
definition of professional communication would be diary
entries (discourse directed toward the writer ), personal
correspondence ( discourses directed to one or more
readers apart from their group affiliations ), reportage or
bellistric discourse (novels, poems, occasional essays—
discourse usually written by individuals and directed to
multiple readers not organized as a group), most
intraclassroom communications and some technical
communications . Professional communication …… would
seem different from discourses involving a single
individual apart from a group affiliation communicating
with another such person, or a single individual
communicating with a large unorganized aggregate of
individuals as suggested by the term mass
communication.